“Vanity Sizing” Kicks Guys in the Pants

Posted By elissa on Oct 8, 2010 | 3 comments

I’ve long been aware of “vanity sizing” of women’s clothes.  For example, I wear the exact same sizes I did in high school… despite the fact that I’m 10 – 15 pounds heavier (sure, it’s muscle, but muscle still adds bulk). As women have gotten bigger, standard women’s clothing sizes have, too. But I didn’t know that men’s clothes were also subject to this.  After all, the definition of a “size 6” is arbitrary and can be easily changed… whereas 36 inches is always 36 inches – right?

Apparently not – as Esquire.com blogger Abram Sauer discovered…

The devastating realization came in H&M. Specifically, in a pair of size 36 dress pants. I’d never bought pants at H&M before, and suddenly asked myself: how could a 36-inch waist suddenly be so damn tight?

Share I’ve never been slim — I played offensive line in high school — but I’m no cow either. (I’m happily a “Russell Crowe” body type.) So I immediately went across the street, bought a tailor’s measuring tape, and trudged from shop to shop, trying on various brands’ casual dress pants. It took just two hours to tear my self-esteem to smithereens and raise some serious questions about what I later learned is called “vanity sizing.”

…However, the temple for waisted male self-esteem is Old Navy, where I easily slid into a size 34 pair of the brand’s Dress Pant. Where no other 34s had been hospitable, Old Navy’s fit snugly. The final measurement? Five inches larger than the label. You can eat all the slow-churn ice cream and brats you want, and still consider yourself slender in these.

Check out the whole post – especially the accompanying graph. It’s pretty clever.

At any rate guys, don’t go patting yourself on the back ’cause you still wear the same size pants you did 20 years ago.